Indore Tragedy: What Caused 8 deaths, how the locals responded?

Indore, Madhya Pradesh: The shocking Indore tragedy due to the contaminated water lead to the death of eight people. More than 149 people have been hospitalised, and several others fell ill due to the contaminated water incident.

In a major update in the Indore tragedy, early test results have detected bacteria associated with sewage in local drinking water samples, as per the officials. The contaminated water findings came after locals started reporting severe gastrointestinal illness, including vomiting and diarrhoea.

It is to be noted here that the hearing on Indore's water contamination issue will be held in the High Court today. The hearing is likely to begin after 12 PM. The court had sought a status report from the government. The judges of the double bench from Jabalpur will conduct the hearing online, according to ANI.

How locals reacted after the contaminated water incident?

On the contaminated water incident, resident Purnima Kaushal said, "The drainage problem is so severe that if the sewer gets clogged, the entire area gets flooded with sewage. The whole gutter line behind the houses is overflowing. The smell is so bad that my children have fallen ill from vomiting. Sewage water is mixing with the drinking water. Just 10 days ago, the water was so bitter that it tasted like it had too much medicine in it..."

Meanwhile, a local Rajiv Saroj said, "There are so many problems here; foul-smelling water is flowing in the lane behind our house. The chamber (of drain) is not being cleaned at all. There's a huge pile of garbage, and no one is coming to clean it. Children in every house are falling ill... We have even filed a complaint, but no one has come to our lane yet... The situation here is very serious..."

Another local Durga Das, reacting oOn contaminated water incident said, "... The municipal corporation is supplying drinking water in the morning through tankers, and for other usage there is a government borewell here which meets the requirement..."

Meanwhile, BJP Councillor (Ward 11), Kamal Waghela said, "... Since the day people began falling ill, we have been supplying Narmada water via tankers... It will take time for people to regain trust. When I was elected three years ago, I had demanded changes to the Narmada water supply drainage line.''

''Here, the drainage line runs above and beneath; as a result, the Narmada pipeline has decayed... Responsibility for Narmada water lies with municipal officer Sanjeev Srivastava. Despite issuing a tender for a new pipeline, he has kept the work stalled for six months. Officers do not carry out our work quickly... It has now been six days, yet the reason for the mixing of drainage water with the Narmada pipeline has not been identifie,." he added.